


Home

by idola



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 13:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4627383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idola/pseuds/idola
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been awhile since Judar was home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home

He’d been back home for hours and was beginning to feel tired. It was a long trip from Magnostadt to Rakushou, even with a carpet. His braid bounced against his back as he moved about more excitedly than he had in the past year. 

“Hakuryuuuu!” Judar called. He paused to listen for an answer, but wasn't surprised when one didn't come.

He knew that Hakuryuu spent the majority of his time in this wing of the palace, and had searched it three times looking for his friend. Each time he searched it, he became more aware of his sleepiness from travelling. 

If Hakuryuu’s room was anywhere near his own, and if it had been Hakuryuu’s room for forever, then maybe Judar wouldn’t be searching like a lost child. But he hadn’t been in the Kou Empire for a solid year - an academic year, to be precise. 

Judar bunched up the black fabric of his Magnostadt uniform in his hands in frustration. "Hakuryuu, are you avoiding me?” He asked the empty hallway.

He stopped walking to look out an ornate window into the palace garden. The sky was a red-pink color, contrasting beautifully with the garden’s white pillars. He was taller than last time he looked through this window and the view was different from how he remembered it. But he didn’t have time for that.

…Until he heard the sound of metal hitting metal. Not the sound of silverware clinking together, but a sound much closer to swords crossing. It was a noise he was vaguely familiar with from his travels. The small Magi held his breath and moved to get a better view of the courtyard. A man clad in a garish green color was holding up a spear in a defensive pose as someone half his height tried to get a hit in.

Judar released the breath he was holding. 

“Hakuryuu,” he breathed out before finding the courtyard’s entrance and a better place to watch. Though it was already evening, the Kou Empire was hotter than what he’d recently grown used to. He sat in the shade of a large tree, watching Hakuryuu’s movements curiously. At first he watched quietly, trying to avoid getting Hakuryuu’s attention while a spear was being thrust in his face. But he quickly grew bothered by the warm breeze and told the rukh to make a cooler one.

As a Magi, Judar was could perform lots of different types of magic. He shifted to let the breeze lift his braid off his neck. Before his training at Magnostadt he had only been able to use basic spells of several elements as instructed by Falan or Ithnan. But now he knew countless spells, and he was dying to show them to Hakuryuu, his only friend.

“Ah—” Judar widened his gaze to match Hakuryuu as their eyes met. As he expected, Hakuryuu fell over as soon as he lost the focus in his swing. But Judar was already tired of waiting and bounced over unapologetically.

“Hakuryuu!” Not bothering to smooth his clothes, Judar walked around to stand by Hakuryuu. He turned to the instructor Hakuryuu had been sparring with. “You can go now.”

The instructor quirked an eyebrow, then looked to Hakuryuu, Judar sighed.

“I said, you can go now! I want to spend time with Hakuryuu.” 

Hakuryuu gave the instructor a dismissive look. The man bowed and left, making Judar smile victoriously.

“Hakuryuu, it’s been forever!”

It took Hakuryuu a minute to respond. First he looked down Judar’s outfit curiously, then seemed to gauge the difference in their heights. “...It has. What did you need from me, Lord Priest?”

Judar resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Since the fire, Hakuryuu had begun trying to simulate distance between them. Judar had tried asking Falan why Hakuryuu was treating him like a stranger, and all she told him was that Hakuryuu had lost much of his ranking and was just addressing him ‘like a side prince should.’ 

However, Judar knew this to be false. Hakuryuu wasn’t looking at him with a longing to call him by his name, and didn’t seem concerned about if anyone heard his formalities or not.

“He-ey. Hakuryuu,” Judar tried again, more sternly than last time.

Hakuryuu met his eyes with an empty expression. “What did you need?” He repeated.

“I was training in Magnostadt.”

“…I see.” Hakuryuu adjusted his bangs, looking back away from Judar. After a second or two his eyes moved to look back at Judar’s outfit.

He smiled. The people of the Kou Empire didn’t dress like magicians in Magnostadt. “Isn’t it cool? It’s the uniform. Everyone has to wear something like this. The really high ranking magicians get to wear even cooler ones, but I had to leave before I could become the highest rank.”

Hakuryuu nodded, but didn’t reply. He seemed to be processing Judar’s words. After another minute of not getting a reply, Judar walked a few paces closer to Hakuryuu.

“Hey. I missed you.”

“Did you train alone?”

“No, there were others. It’s a whole school.”

“For magicians? Are there enough for a whole school?”

Judar grinned. So Hakuryuu _was_ interested. “Yeah! Hey, I’ll tell you everything about it. Let’s go to your room.”

“Can’t you tell me here?”

“I’m tired. I was flying on that carpet for hours and had to share it with all those annoying masked guys.”

“…Were those ‘annoying masked guys’ practicing magic too?”

“Um…” Judar scratched his head. He wasn’t sure. “They can do magic, so probably. Actually, none of them were any of my classes, so… Maybe not?” He yawned. "Hey, if you're really curious I can tell you all about it even though you don't do any magic. But I don't want anyone but you to hear." Desperate times called for desperate measures after all. Judar wasn't above holding facts over Hakuryuu's head so he could at least lay somewhere comfortable while he told Hakuryuu all about Magnostadt's secrets they were keeping from goyim.

Hakuryuu looked around, checking to see if anyone else had heard. He looked back at Judar and Judar’s unfamiliar clothes, and Judar could almost see his thoughts. He’d known Hakuryuu long enough to know that he was interested in the rest of the world, and that Judar was offering something invaluable to him. Judar grinned when Hakuryuu nodded and motioned him to follow.

It wasn’t that Judar wanted to bribe Hakuryuu with information to be near him. It was that he wanted Hakuryuu to know about where he’d been, and the foods he’d eaten and hadn’t been able to eat and all the people he met and the things that magicians were able to do. He wanted to see Hakuryuu’s impressed face like when his brothers told them both about their conquests to the west and the people they’d met along the way. Hakuryuu just didn't know how to ask anymore.

Once they reached Hakuryuu’s room, the prince closed the door softly and tried to be subtle about locking it. He really wasn’t subtle at all, but if Judar told him about how completely un-secretive he was at things then he’d be kicked out to the other side of that locked door. He jumped up on the dresser and flopped onto Hakuryuu’s bed, swinging his legs across the silken sheets excitedly.

“Don’t mess up my room too much,” Hakuryuu instructed, then walked around the edge of the bed to sit on a pillow, never taking his eyes off Judar’s excited figure.

“But Hakuryuuu,” Judar said, turning to face him. “These beds are so soft! They don’t have silk in Magnostadt, you know?”

“…Really?”

“Yeah!” Judar sat up quickly, wagging his fingers around in a mockery of an instructor. “It’s a… commodity! Something that doesn’t grow in the west. Hey, they use cotton for all the quilts and stuff. There’s wool too but it’s really itchy so I had them remove it.”

“We have those things here too, you know.”

“Yeah, but they don’t have silk there. Weird, huh?”

Hakuryuu shrugged. “How was the school, anyway?” He asked, handing Judar a pillow to lay his head on.

“Oh, right. It was okay. They have a lot to learn still. Ithnan said so."

“Which one is Ithnan? It’s rare for you to remember someone’s name.”

Judar closed his eyes. He didn’t know to describe that guy without bringing up Hakuryuu’s mom, and then he’d probably get kicked out. Better play it safe. “It doesn’t really matter. He’s the masked guy that enrolled me.”

“Oh. I thought any magician can go in.”

“Yeah, but I’m a Magi so I’m special. Magnostadt might have tried to kidnap me without all those guys coming with.”

“Even though you’re a Magi, I guess you still have to learn magic like everyone else.”

“Those masked guys said it was important for a Magi like me to know about the rukh so a lot of what I was taught was about how the rukh works.”

“The rukh?”

Judar tilted his head, an annoyed expression flashing on his face. “You really can’t see it? Even though they’re right here?” He waved his hand around, swatting at the rukh. They were like moths around a fire when he tried to have a conversation with someone.

Hakuryuu watched blankly. “There’s nothing there.”

“There is! I guess you really can’t see them. That’s too bad, 'cause I think they like you.”

“Do they?” Hakuryuu looked around the room, trying to catch a glimpse at a sparkle or a flutter or however it was rukh moved.

Judar hummed. “Yeah. They don’t try to talk over you or anything. I don’t think they like the masked guys much…”

“Is that so.” 

Judar nodded, yawning. “Hey, Hakuryuu. I’m really tired.”

“You already said that. Your room is in another wing, so you should go to sleep.”

“No-ooo…” Judar whined, his protest trailing off in another yawn. He turned and buried his face in Hakuryuu’s pillow, taking a deep breath. It was familiar and felt safer than his cold room where he could feel eyes from every angle.

“I’m not letting you sleep in here! Aren’t you too old for that now anyway?”

“Noooo…” Judar shifted the pillow to peek at Hakuryuu’s face. His eyes were closed in a way that looked more sleepy than angry.

Hakuryuu was silent, allowing their eyes to meet.

“Hakuryuu, I missed you.” Judar mumbled. “It was boring being far away.”

He didn’t respond.

Judar stopped to yawn, then continued. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“You haven’t tried to sleep yet.”

“No, I mean in Magnostadt. I can’t sleep anymore.”

Hakuryuu was surprised before nodding in understanding. He let himself slide until he was laying down. “I can’t sleep anymore either.”

“Do you think it’s because we’re getting older? Do adults not sleep?”

Hakuryuu rolled his eyes. “Of course they sleep. Hakuei says it’s easy.”

“Why can’t we do it then?” Judar complained, scooting over to Hakuryuu. He took a small hand in his, shocked for a moment at how they didn’t fit together well.

Hakuryuu shrugged. He didn’t take his hand away. Instead, Hakuryuu closed his eyes. His breathing evened out gradually and Judar was about to complain that he _could_ sleep, but Hakuryuu cut him off.

“I keep thinking about the fire.”

The fire. Of course. The fire that left Hakuryuu with burns all over his body and an eye that he was always squinting with like it was blurry. Judar had been abroad when it happened. He was always, always away whenever something happened. He was tired of not being able to be here with Hakuryuu.

It took Judar a minute to realize he was supposed to respond.

“Every time I try to sleep, I feel like I’m being watched,” he admitted. “Like the rukh are watching me.” He paused. “No, not the rukh. Something else.”

Hakuryuu frowned. If Judar had to be put a name to his expression, he would say Hakuryuu was concerned. 

“Is it watching you now?”

“Huh? Now?” Judar sat up, and looked around the room. The rukh fluttered away, like they were scouting for him by checking all the tiny places he couldn't see.

“…No,” Judar breathed.

Hakuryuu nodded while yawning again. He stared into the corners of the room to see if he could see the eyes that were watching Judar. He didn't feel anything. He looked back at Judar, curled up on a pillow like it was hard. Judar blinked when Hakuryuu's eyes met his again. He thought he was about to get kicked out before Hakuryuu finally spoke. “Being around you...” Hakuryuu started, then paused as if reconsidering. Eventually he continued. “Being around you is hard. I can’t… be your friend anymore.”

Judar didn’t move. He’d known this already. Every day they grew farther apart for reasons he couldn’t comprehend. It was obvious that friendship was at the opposite end of where they were going.

“But,” he continued. “When I’m talking to you it feels just like when we were younger.” Hakuryuu held his scarred arm up to asses the damage. Though it had changed, it showed no signs of fading. He had already accepted that his body would never look the way it used to again. He took a deep breath before continuing. “And I think… because you’re Judar, if you need to get away from something that’s watching you, I can help.”

Judar let out the breath he had been holding. He wasn’t allowed to be Hakuryuu’s friend anymore. But as long as he could still be Judar instead of the Lord Priest, even if it was just when they were alone, it was alright. Because Hakuryuu would always be Hakuryuu, and not the leftover prince everyone else thought he was.

It made sense. So much sense that no one else could understand it. The others cared too much about the things that didn’t matter - their statuses and the ways they had to live.

Judar moved closer, taking fistfuls of Hakuryuu’s shirt fabric in his hands. Hakuryuu also cared about things that didn’t matter, about what the organization was doing and the places they went and took Judar to. But since it was Hakuryuu, he would go along with this one unimportant thing. He would tell Hakuryuu anything he wanted to know until he was satisfied. Eventually it wouldn’t matter anymore to him either and everything would go back to normal.

All he had to do was wait for the day they could be friends again.


End file.
